Healthcare systems in the Puget Sound region have updated their joint guidelines for masking in hospitals and outpatient clinics during respiratory illness season. This means local healthcare facilities may require patients, visitors and employees to wear masks when respiratory illnesses such as flu and COVID-19 are circulating widely in the community.
Masking is an effective way to reduce the spread of respiratory illnesses in healthcare settings. These latest guidelines re-affirm the importance of the health and safety of patients and employees, particularly for those who are at high risk of becoming severely ill from COVID-19, influenza (flu) and other respiratory illnesses.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department joins other local health jurisdictions in strongly supporting the continued commitment by healthcare organizations to encourage masking in hospitals and clinics. Masking reduces the spread of disease, protects vulnerable patients and healthcare workers, and helps ensure healthcare facilities maintain capacity to serve our communities.
“We thank our healthcare partners for all their efforts to make hospitals and clinics as safe as possible, especially for people who are more vulnerable to respiratory illnesses such as infants, people with weakened immune systems, and older people,” said Dr. James Miller, Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Health Officer. “We will be using the same data-driven approach in our own clinics. And our epidemiologists will continue to ensure that our healthcare partners and the community have access to the most up-to-date data on respiratory illnesses.”
In September 2023, several healthcare systems across our region joined together to adopt thresholds for requiring masking during respiratory illness season.
Since that time, healthcare facilities have continued their commitment to re-evaluate and update guidelines as new data become available. The latest guidelines use the most recent data to update thresholds for the 2024-2025 season.
You can read more about the current masking guidelines in this statement.